US1692558A - Automobile engine-hood retaining and locking means - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 20, 1928.

A. c. M BRIDE ET AL AUTOMOBILE ENGINE HOOD RETAINING AND LOCKING MEANS Filed Oct. 26. 1926' 2 Sheets-Sheet L INVENTORS Aer/rue C M3 Be/01s- Fegiec'e/cx W EcwwoeTH ATTORNEY Nov. 20; 1928. 1,692,558

- A. c. MCBRIDE ET AL AUTOMOBILE ENGINE HOOD RETAINING AND LOCKING MEANS Filed Oct. 26. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 f I N V EN TORS A e THUE c ME 59/05 FEEDER/CK W BEN Woe TH ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 1928 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR C. MOBRIDE AND FREDERICK W. BEN'W ORTH, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO CHARLES H. E. REMONIDINO, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFOR- aurouonmr: ENGINE-noon nnramme arm LOCKING MEANS.

Application filed October as, 1926. Serial R0. 144,239.

Our invention relates to automobile en gine hood retaining and locking means.

The objects of our present invention are; first, to provide means of this class-whereby both ends of the hood at one side may be simultaneously secured to the body of the automobile; second, to provide a means of this class whereby the hood may be effectively and easily locked in position; third, to provide -means of control and locking mec anism for means of this class similar to control means and locking mechanism elsewhere employed on the automobile, such as on the doors of enclosed automobiles, where- 16' by the same closing movement and key may be employed throughout; fourth,-to provide means of this classwhereby the hood may be secured tightly at its lower edge or portion to the frame of the automobile with very 2 [little effort, without pulling or otherwise distorting springs on hood retaining plungers or other securing means, without getting into uncomfortable and inconvenient positions to secure the hood in position or release the same, or without soiling ones clothes by reason of the ready accessibility of the securing means and the operation thereof by one hand; fifth, to provide means of this class whereby the hood may be shifted into place and secured in position by a' single means operable by one hand only, and also whereby the hood may be released and raised out of place with said single means and by the operation of one hand; sixth, to provide as "a means of this class whereby single spring meansis employed for retaining the same in a locked position and resiliently holding the hood downwardly; seventh, to provide a means of this class having guiding devices I 40 whereby the hood is guided over or into operative relation with the keeperor retaining means on the frame of the automobile so that the hood will readily slip into place with a 1 minimum of efiort; eighth,-to provide a novel 46 handle and locking mechanism for means of this class; ninth, to provide means of this class in which all parts are normall concealed from view and access except the andle for raising and lowering the hood and for 50 operating the latching and locking mechamsm; tenth, to (provide as a whole a novelly constructed an arranged automobile hood retaining and" locking -means, and eleventh,

to provide a means of this class which 18 simple and economical of construction proportionate to its functions, durable, efficient, and which will not readily'deteriorate or get out of order.

With "these and other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, our invention consists of certain novel features of construe tion,.combination and arrangement of parts and portions, as'will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon, which form a part of this application,in which:

- Figure 1 is a front, top and side perspec tive view of the rightside of an automobile hood, showing its relation tothe adjacent parts of an automobile and showing our securing and locking means in connection therewith; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the lower portion of the inside ofthehood and the associated portion of the frame of the automobile, showing oursecuring and locking means in connection therewith, certain parts and portions of the means being'shown broken away andinsection to facilitate the illustration, and others being shown by dotted lines shifted to certain receded positions; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the locking mechanism, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, certain parts and portions thereof being shown in elevation to facilitate the illustration; Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view of our means, taken at 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a fr gmentary elevational view, taken from the inside of the automobile hood, showing a certain modified form of construction of our means in which a different type of spring is employed; Fig. 6 is another fragmentary 'elevational view thereof, showing the bolt and the hood guide members 19 constitute the principal parts and portions of our hood securing and locking means in one form of construction.

In the present method of automobile construction, the engine hood of the automobile is secured in position over the body and to the frame by securing means at the opposite sides of the automobile and near the opposite ends of the Hood. With our means the hood is secured to the automobile frame preferably at the same portions or places, but our -securing means is at the inside of the hood instead of at the outside.

Our securing means consists ofbolts and keepers, the former, 1 and 2, being reciprocally mounted at the inner sides of the hood and near and substantially parallel with the lower edge of the hood, and the latter, 3, being reciprocally mounted in and on the frame and projecting upwardly above the frame within the hood. The keeper 3, one being provided near either end of the hood and at both sides of the automobile, consists of an eye 3 at its upper end and a shank 3 at its lower end. At the lower sideof the upper portion'of the frame F of the automobile is secured, by means of screws 5, a keeper guide 4. The shank 3 extends through the upper portion of the frame as well as through the guide 4. Around the shank 3 is a compression spring 6, the ends of which are positioned between the guide 4 and a washer 7 retained in position at the lower end of the shank 3 by a pin 8. The keeper 3 may be prevented from rotating relative to the frame by means of a square shank or by means of a pin t extending through a longitudinal slot 1n the shank of the keeper.

The outer ends of the bolts are supported and guided by guide plates 9 secured to the inner sides of the hood in any suitable manner. The. opposite ends, or inner ends, of the bolts are pivotally connected, by means of pins or bolts 10, to the one side and near the peripheral portions of the bolt shifting disc 10, sa d bolt being connected thereto at opposite s1 Les of its axis.

The disc 10 is non-rotatably secured to the inner end of the barrel 11 which is rotatably mounted and extends through the hood H near its lower edge and intermediate its ends. The barrel 11 forms the revolving and controlling member of the lock which may be of any conventional construction or of any construction to suit the particular needs. As shownin the drawings, the barrel 11 is rotatably mounted within the cylindercasing 14 which is secured to the outer side of the hood H by means of screws 15'from the inner side of the hood. The barrel 11 extends out- Wardl beyond the end of the cylinder casing 14 an around the peripheral surface thereof. To the portion of the barrel extending around the casing 14, indicated by 11", are

.in their withdrawn positions casing 14 and the barrel 11 are reciprocally mounted the cylinders or plugs which control the rotation of the one relative to the other. As shown, the cylinders or plugs extend into another barrel 13, which is the key receiving barrel for receiving the key K. The cylinders or plugs extend into the barrel 13 and are controlled by the key for releasing the barrel 11. v

The outer ends of the bolts 1 and 2 are permitted slight vertical movement by the guide plates 9 and are forced against the upper guide portions of said plates by means of tension springs 16 secured at their lower and upper ends by means of pins or members 17 and 18 respectively to the bolts and the inner side of the hood, as shown. Said springs act in opposed relation to the springs 6 of the keepers. Therefore, both will yield slightly when the outer ends of the bolts are inserted through the eyes of the keepers. The springs 16 are also so connected relative to the bolts and the hood that the same tend to force the bolts outwardly and retain the same in engagement with the keepers. Said springs are also so arranged that when the bolts are shifted inwardly, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the same will resilientg hold the bolts y reason of the relation of the respective centers of the fixed end of the spring, the axis of rotation of the disc and the pivotal connections of the bolts with said discs.

It will be noted that the inner end of one of the bolts is offset or provided with a goose-' neck whereby the inner ends of the bolts are avoided by each other.

It will be here also noted that the outer ends of the bolts are beveled at their upper sides so that when only the extreme outer ends are brought into engagement with the eyes of the keepers, said bolts, when shifted outwardly by the handle means, withdraw the keepers against the action 0t their respective springs and also draw the outer portions of the bolts against the lower guide portions of the guide plates 9 against the actions of the springs 16, thus positively as well as, to a certain extent, resiliently holdingthe hood in a down-, ward position relative to the body of the automobile.

At the outer sides of the keepers 9 and in spaced relation therewith are provided angularly positioned hood guide members 19 which may be made integral parts of the relatively outer sides of the keepers 3 and guide the same to position. e

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the guide members 19 are slotted so as to provide clearance for the outer ends of the bolts.

In the modified form of construction. shown in Fig. 5, the construction is identical except that the coil springs of the former construction are replaced by a plate spring 20 secured to the hood H by screws2l, or other means. Said spring extends toward the outer end of the bolt .gml engages the under side thereof.

In the modified form of construction, shown vinFig. 6, the bolt 1 is relatively short and is connected at its inner end, by means of a connecting link 22, with the bolt shiftin disc, not shown. Thus. it will be seen thattfi 1 must have a relatively longguide and cannot be permitted free vertical play within the guide plate 9, as in the above described constructions. In this modified form of construction the spring 16 is preferably connected with the connecting link and tends to force the bolts outwardly as well as to lock the same in inwardly shifted positions, as described above.

In the modified form of construction, shown in Fig. 7, the bolt. shifting disc or member consists of a gear 23 which "engages with the teeth of gear racks 24 and 251 at its diametrically opposite sides. Said gear racks are provided at the inner ends of bolt members 1 and 2 oi similar construction as those described above. The inner ends ofthe racks- 24 and 25 are retained relative to each other and relative to the gear 23, by means ofa guide strap 26 extending around or over the same and secured to the inner side of the hood, as shown, the strap 26 being shown broken away to facilitate the illustration. Thus, when the gear 23 is rotated in one directionboth bolts are either shifted outwardly or inwardly, as in the other-mechanisms described above.

Though wehave shown and described a particular construction, combinationand arrangement of parts and portions and certain modifications thereof, we do not wish to'be limited to this particular construction, com bination and arrangement nor toithe modifications, but desire to include in the scope of our invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in.

the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what ebolt' we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a means of the class described, a guide member, a bolt member lon 'tudinally reciprocally mounted in said gui e member and also laterally shiftable therein, a rotatable member pivotally connected to the inner end of said bolt member,-and a spring means bolt members, and guide means at the inner side of said hood adjacent the outer ends of said bolt members for guiding said hood over said keepers.

3. In a means of the class described, the combination with the hood and frame of an automobile, of keepers reciprocally mounted in vertical directions on said frame, bolt members reciprocally mounted on said hood vat the inner side thereof adapted to engage with said keepers, means for actuating said bolt members, guide means at the inner side of said hood adjacent the outer ends of said bolt members for guiding said hood over said keepers, and other guide members at the inner side of said hood adapted for supporting the outer ends of said boltmembers and positioned at the opposite sides of said keepers from said first mentioned guide members.

4. In a means of the class described, the combination with the hood and frame of an automobile, of latch means mounted at the inner side of said hood, keepers mounted on said frame adapted to be en aged by said latch members, means on said ood for actuating said latch-members, said means extendin to the outer side of said hood and provi' ed with a latch operating and hood raising handle means, and a lock in connection with and forming a portion of said handle means.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at San Diego, California, this 16th day of October, 1926.

ARTHUR C. MCBRIDE. FREDERICK W. RENWORTH.

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